An open letter to all Swimming WA Athletes
Dear Swimmer,
You might be feeling a bit lost at the moment. Racing has been cancelled, training may be cancelled,
even school may now be cancelled, but your dreams have not been cancelled. Your goals have not been
cancelled. The hard work you have put in has not been lost. It takes many years of training, many
preparations, and many challenges to be the best swimmer you can be. One day, that may be enough
take you to an Olympics. As a swimmer fortunate enough to go, I can tell you that over my many years
of training, there was no preparation, no season, no training session, that was ever a waste of time.
For now, you may not to get to reap the rewards of your hard work. There may not be those personal
bests, those medals you were hoping for, but there will be. They are in your future if you want them.
You face a new challenge now, on an unprecedented scale. Extraordinary challenges can produce
extraordinary results, but they require extraordinary strength and determination. Those that face this
challenge with optimism, with innovation and creativity, will come out stronger than any single season
of training could possibly make them. Some will falter and give up, they will blame the situation, but
success was never meant for them. Others will thrive, they will grow and steel themselves. To them, this
is not a challenge, but an opportunity to prove themselves, to show they have what it takes to succeed.
To be the best.
So, who will you be? The choice is yours and yours alone.
Keep training, keep improving, keep pushing. Keep going.
I’ll end with a quote from one of my favourite authors, Ernest Hemingway, in his book, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’;
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that
ever come can depend on what you do today.”
All the best,
Tommaso D’Orsogna OLY
SWA Board of Directors
